Intel® Mobile Adapters — What are the Differences Between PCI and CardBus?

Intel® Mobile Adapters

What are the Differences Between PCI and CardBus?

Although essentially similar, there are several differences between the two bus implementations. The most significant differences stem from the small form factor, reduced I/O and power requirements of CardBus adapter. A complete PCI implementation includes bus extension pins for 64-bit I/O. Due to the limited number of pins available in the CardBus 68-pin connector, 64-bit address and data paths cannot be implemented; at this time all CardBus devices use 32-bit I/O. Unlike 5V PCI adapters, CardBus peripherals are designed exclusively for use in 3.3V signaling environments.

This applies to:

Xircom® CardBus Ethernet 10/100+Modem 56 GlobalACCESS Adapter (CBEM56G-100)
Xircom® RealPort™ CardBus Ethernet 10/100+Modem 56 GlobalACCESS Adapter (RBEM56G-100)

Xircom® RealPort2™ CardBus Ethernet 10/100+Modem 56 GlobalACCESS Adapter (R2BEM56G)

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Solution ID: CS-008588
Last Modified: 18-Nov-2009
Date Created: 20-Jan-2004